The anxiogenic video-recorded Stroop Color-Word Test: psychological and physiological alterations and effects of diazepam.

From among the few human experimental models that can be used to predict the clinical activity of new anxiolytic drugs, the video-recorded Stroop Color-Word Test (VRSCWT), which uses subjective scales to evaluate anxious states, is notable for its simplicity. However, considering that the choice of treatment for anxiety disorders is heavily dependent on the level of somatic symptomatology, a quantitative evaluation of the physiological alterations elicited by the anxiogenic situation of the VRSCWT would also be of great interest. In the present study, 36 healthy male and female volunteers were submitted to either the VRSCWT or to a nonanxiogenic test.